Introducing IMPAKT Sidehacks – An Interview With Greyboy & Truly Odd About The Unorthodox New Company

*Click on page two of this article to see a complete bike check of Greyboy and Truly Odd’s custom sidehack built from a Sunday Second Wave frame.

*Click on page three of this article to get some background info on Greyboy and Truly Odd and their sidehack riding by reading the interview we did with them in Ride BMX issue 155.

Interview and photos by Fat.

In issue 155 of our magazine we did an interview with two well-known DJs that have an unusual love for sidehack riding. Well now the two have teamed up with a few other partners and have started a whole sidehack company. Since the bikes will be available through Walmart on December 8th we hit them up for some scoop on the company, some photos of them shredding the bikes, and for an in depth look at their custom hack with a complete bike check. Read on…

Through the power of Twitter I recently noticed a feed for IMPAKT sidehacks. I clicked on the link and then saw that IMPAKT actually had a Web site up where they were advertising complete sidehacks for sale. I wanted to get to the bottom of the company, and low and behold, Greyboy and Truly Odd were at the helm of it. So I hit them up to learn more about the rather unorthodox new BMX company. After getting some answers from Greyboy I decided to meet up with them for a little photo shoot to get some images to go along with the interview. That’s where I really began to understand what these guys and their company is all about.

If you think the monkey “just sits there,” then think again… Truly Odd helping get a good push start.

In issue 155 of Ride we did an interview with you guys about your love for sidehacks. How did that passion for hacks turn into wanting to get them out to the masses?
We actually started by wanting to sell them U.S. made, and in small batches. But after shooting the Fantasy Factory episode, Rob Dyrdek asked us if we would be interested in possibly having them mass-produced and sold at Walmart. Initially we were skeptical, but after really thinking about it, we realized that if we wanted to get this sidehack thing going, we needed to make them affordable and widely available. And Walmart is both of those things. Were hoping that people will see that the IMPAKT “Standard” is a solid, entry-level sidehack that almost anybody can afford.

Explain the two lines of sidehacks IMPAKT will have.
The IMPAKT “Standard”, mass-produced in china, will retail at Walmart for $259.00 complete. Then the IMPAKT “Elite”, which incorporates the Sunday 2nd wave frame, super dialed sidecar design, full 4130, and is fabricated in the U.S. will retail in the $8-900.00 range for just the bare frame and sidecar.

This is the “Standard” model complete hack that will be available in select Walmart stores and through the Walmart Web site on December 8th.

Who all is involved with the company?
Me, Truly Odd, Rob Dyrdek [pro skateboarder], and Jeremy Larner [Dyrdek’s manager and partner] are all equal partners in IMPAKT Sidehacks.

How did you guys convince an investor that a company like this would work?
We didn’t have to convince an investor because our deal with Walmart is via Hyper Bicycles. We gave them our prototype design, then they take care of everything that has to deal with the overseas manufacturing. We take care of the Web site and all its content-that’s about it.

Popping a fakie off a tall vert quarter at Rob Dyrdek’s Fantasy Factory.

How much abuse can the bikes really take? Are they more for shits and giggles around the neighborhood? Or can you really put them to the test on a track and at a skatepark?
The sample that we got from China looked great-we were totally impressed. I mean, for $259.00 complete, it’s a really good deal. You might tweak the wheels trying to jump over trashcans to flat, but otherwise, it’s a nice hack for racing, or riding at the skatepark too.

The pilot and monkey testing their height by launching into a foam pit.

Any plans to have a team of sorts or riders to represent the brand?
We are talking about putting a team together-more of an honorary type thing at this point as we don’t have any money to pay anyone, but we have a lot of real cool people in the BMX industry that are supportive of what were doing so were are going to start with some of them. Jim Bauer and Francis Delapena from Odyssey for instance…one of our first additions to the team. And I’m pretty sure Keith Mulligan and Fuzzy Hall are down too-they were killing it at the Fantasy Factory shoot.

The higher end sidehacks will have Sunday frames; why did you pick them to work with on this?
The Elite model sidehack with Sunday frame comes un-built only, but we suggest that you use Odyssey parts like we do because we dig their product and use it ourselves. It works without fail every time.

The Caruthers park in Bellflower, California has seen lots of sidehack action over the past few years… Third wheel off the ground, full hack grind around the bowled corner with plenty of speed.

What kind of questions do you get from locals when you show up to a park with the sidehack?
We were out at the Eldorado park in Long Beach yesterday and there was a bunch of young BMX heads there. They were all super stoked on sidehacks-most of them saw it on Fantasy Factory so they were somewhat familiar. That’s the usual reaction though…almost everyone seems to dig them, even just regular people that want to put there groceries in the sidecar or whatever. We always get a positive response… Except from skaters. They pretty much HATE us. No surprise there…

Jumping the Elite model over the Standard model while the So Cal sun sets behind them.

Do you think having the sidehacks on MTV’s Fantasy Factory will help them gain popularity?
We are really hoping that the Fantasy Factory episode will show more people just what sidehacks are and how fun they can be to ride. That way when they see it in the bike shop or at Walmart they might put their money down on one…we shall see. The word “sidehack” was the #1 Google trending topic after our episode premiered, so let’s hope that’s a good indication.

I’m pretty sure some kind of BMX history was made here with this first-ever launch up to feeble hack grind with a one-handed monkey.

Anything else you want to add?
Lastly, we just want to thank the some people who have helped us get to this point, we definitely could not have done it without them: Eric Anthony, Ben Ward, Jim Bauer, Rich Hirsch, Nuno Oliviera, Harrison Boyce, Rob Dyrdek, Jeremy Larner, Greg Tracy, Albert Ocampo, John Dooley, Francis Delapena, Keith Mulligan, Fuzzy Hall, Steve Brothers, and Rick Wwomey (the godfather of BMX sidehacks).

Here’s a quick video Greyboy and Truly Odd made of them riding a launch to grind box in front of Greyboy’s house…

This is an older little promo they put together earlier this year…

And here’s an edit they put together last year bombing a hill on the sidehack…

Which parts do you go through the most?
Wheels. But the setup we have now is so strong. I don’t think we’re gonna need new ones for a long time…
Which part of the sidehack makes the biggest difference?There are a few critical things that make a good sidehack… The third wheel position has to be right, the sidecar handlebar needs to be in a certain place, and the width of the entire bike cant be too narrow or too wide. Other than that, you have to find a good monkey…that’s the key.

Sidehack Love: Greyboy & Truly Odd Revamp The Hack

Interview by Keith Mulligan from Ride BMX issue 155 (May, 2009).

Sidehacks came onto the BMX racing scene in the early 70s. One bike, two riders, three wheels, and a whole lot of hangin' on. The races were entertaining, the crashes were gnarly, and the guy in the hack was called the "monkey." These heavy pieces of machinery were no stranger to the freestyle world either. Search around and you'll find photos of sidehacks being ridden in the classic cement skateparks of California back in the days when mag wheels were turning, checkerboards were in, and there were more colors in freestyle than tricks. Then, for the most part, sidehacks disappeared.

Let the record skip to 2009, and there's a pair of guys on a brand new hack bombing hills, airing spines, and grinding coping with diehard dedication and love for it. Andreas Stevens (a.k.a. DJ Greyboy) and Patrick Freitas (a.k.a. DJ Truly Odd) are well known and established in the music world, but now they're making a name for themselves in BMX…

Let's start off with some background info. You're both known as DJs, but how did you get into BMX?
Greyboy: We both rode bikes as kids. That was like our main source of fun really, BMX. He grew up in NorCal and I was in Southern California, but we both rode and raced. We both kind of left bikes when we were in our late teens and then got back into it.
Truly Odd: My first BMX bikes were like 1975-76. I was wantin' to be like Evel Knievel—I just wanted to ride in dirt. I was racing by maybe '79 and then I raced up to '85 and then again in '94. But in between there, around '85, we both got into music and started DJing.
Greyboy: We got back in through old-school bikes and then we just started riding new bikes again because we wanted to ride and you can't ride old bikes. We collect old bikes, we're just into BMX in general—all the eras. I got my first BMX bike in '79 and then I started racing like a year later, and I sucked, but I wanted to race and ride dirt. I got out of it…like '84 was the last time I saw a BMX bike until I got back into it in the 2000s.

How did you guys get into sidehacks? I mean it's pretty random, completely unknown by most kids today, and an almost forgotten part of BMX…
Greyboy: When I got back into the old bikes, my next-door neighbor, who was a kid I raced with, had a Littlejohn sidehack, and we used to mess around on it. I wanted one, so I got an old-school one. We were at Bellflower at some gathering and I had the sidehack with me and we were like, "Let's take it in the pool and just f-cking see if we can carve around the bowl with it." That was pretty much the beginning of it.
Truly Odd: Him having the hack, and then the old-school gatherings, that's where we'd get on the hack and start riding around and fooling around. Then the [ABA] was going to throw a national and have a little sidehack race in between…
Greyboy: Oh, that's right.
Truly Odd: And so it was like, "Oh yeah, let's race, get back on it…"
Greyboy: We won the race, and then we won the Redline nationals race and then it was just like, f-ck, we can do this sh-t, even though we're old [laughs].
Truly Odd: The radness, just BMX, the bug just gets you.

From the helmets you guys wear to the T-shirts and jerseys, it's obvious you guys have an appreciation for the old stuff. Do you do a lot of collecting or are there just certain things you are into?
Greyboy: It's pretty much obsessive [laughs]. You kinda start [by saying], "I want to build my childhood bike." And then it just turns into…I remember a dude telling me, this guy was a big dude into the hobby at the time, he was like, "Oh, you're building your first bike? You'll have 15 in like a year." I'm like, "15 bikes? There's no way I'm going to have 15 bikes." I was like 24 bikes deep after the first couple of years—just ridiculous—way too many bikes [laughs]. But it's just kind of like that, you get an appreciation for it and then you just start to appreciate bikes you never even had or heard of just from a design standpoint, and we just really dig BMX from all the angles. And the finest bikes are always fine design.

So tell me about Hercules.
Greyboy: That's a little idea that we came up with for our own sidehack company.
Truly Odd: We felt like the sidehacks from the past [used] an old design that needed to be redesigned in a way that we wanted to ride it—in the parks and on the street—and you couldn't do that on the old ones, they weren't holding up. So we wanted to make a hack—kinda design a hack-2009 by people that rode a hack—make the best hack possible for us to do our thing.
Greyboy: And with the technology now, the new stuff's killer—way less bolts to turn and way lighter. It should be pretty cool, we'll see what happens. We get crazy reactions every time we're out with it. It seems like even just a regular person who has no interest in BMX gets vibes from the sidehack, which is cool.

What's with the bike you guys are on now? Is it a Sunday frame?
Greyboy: Yeah, it's the new Sunday Second Wave frame. We had the basic design, and luckily I had become friends with Ben [Ward] at Odyssey and he helped us kind of co-design and really dial in the finer points…
Truly Odd: With bike designs nowadays.
Greyboy: Yeah, 'cause he really understands, and just made sure all the clearances were straight. He also hooked us up with the guys at Solid who could do the fabrication, so that was cool. We were stoked to have a U.S.-made product.

So that's a prototype and you're still refining things. Is the plan to make production ones?
Greyboy: Yeah, we're using the prototypes to see how much interest we can get, 'cause they're pretty costly—more than the average bike, so we're just trying to figure out if we can stir up enough interest to make it work. But yeah, that's our end goal, for sure.

Obviously a sidehack isn't something that someone would ride around by themselves very often, how often do you guys get together and ride?
Truly Odd: A few times a week.
Greyboy: Yeah, pretty often. We get together a few times a week to ride bikes, period. Yeah, we're pretty pumped on it. We try to get out there. I injured myself a couple of times and so did he, so we try to wait until we heal before we go back out.

So Greyboy, are you always the pilot and is Patrick always the monkey or do you switch it up?
Truly Odd: Pretty much.
Greyboy: We switched it up one time, and…[makes crashing noise]. I was over it.
Truly Odd: I don't have anyone to ride with me. If I could ride…
Greyboy: Yeah, he could pilot for sure, but I am not a good monkey. I felt like I was getting thrown around the whole time.

Do you always feel like you're just along for the ride?
Truly Odd: That's the impression people get from it, but it's dual riders on that bike. Like, even though I don't have a sprocket, the platform is still my cranks, and even the bar—I can influence how he's turning, so if I'm not turning with him or in the right position then it's a whole different thing.

So from riding parks and bombing the fire roads, to ABA races, what's most fun to you guys?
Greyboy: They're all kinda fun in a different way… We wish we had downhill tracks to race 'cause they're not really meant to be raced on flat tracks. It's cool, but it's a f-cking lungbuster. They were meant to be raced on somewhat of a downhill slope. I guess it's kinda like racing regular bikes; whoever is out of the first turn first is going to win pretty much. It's hard to catch up on a flat track. Downhills are cool because they're so much gnarlier—anything can happen—somebody that's ahead can go over a turn because they're going way too fast.
Truly Odd: But they're all fun. Riding the park is fun, but riding the park you can get hurt, too.
Greyboy: Racing is fun because it's that weird thing of beating other people—that adrenaline rush, and the park is like just the f-cking shred rush.
Truly Odd: Can we clear this? Can we jump that, can we get up on top of this? [laughs].
Greyboy: Like whatever we do, we don't know if we're going to get f-cked up or how it's going to turn out.
Truly Odd: And nobody's really done it yet either, so we're just experimenting the whole time.
Greyboy: And then the downhills, obviously that sh-t is fun 'cause you're just going fast and sliding…
Truly Odd: Drifting…
Greyboy: And hopefully not eating sh-t [laughs].

What's the reaction from kids at parks when you roll up and drop in on it?
Truly Odd: They trip out.
Greyboy: They're always like, "Did you make that?"
Truly Odd: "Are you going to ride that in here?"
Greyboy: "Can you do a tailwhip?" That's the first thing they want to know [laughs]. It's like, "No, bro. I want to tell you I can do a tailwhip with him in the sidecar, but… [laughs]."
Truly Odd: The kids dig it.

What's the wildest thing you guys have done?
Greyboy: Airing over a spine on it was the wildest thing, which we did at Fullerton a few times and didn't get broken off.
Truly Odd: Yep, and El Dorado.
Greyboy: Yeah. That's the biggest thing for us, doing something big off transition and landing back on. It's killer when you do it.

Truly Odd: Big air in it is fun.
Greyboy: We snapped the entire rear hub out of the Tuff Wheel doing it at Fullerton. Even landing on the transition was pretty sick. I feel like there's so much gnarly sh-t to be done, we're just scratching the surface; we're just trying to show people that it can be even crazier. We might not be the ones to do it first…
Truly Odd: Like maybe taking it to the trails [laughs].
Greyboy: Like any sizeable gap would be really impressive, I think.
Truly Odd: Or a backflip.
Greyboy: We want to hit a foam pit. We're itching to hit that, [a backflip] looks so right.

So do you think there's going to be a resurgence in sidehacks because of what you're doing?
Truly Odd: Oh man, that would be great.
Greyboy: That's our ultimate hope.
Truly Odd: But have them presented nowadays in a different way than just the old-school view.
Greyboy: We're trying to take it out of the garage. They used to be like a garage-made item—homemade, homebrewed type of thing. We just want to try to…like with this prototype especially, this is like the most refined we've gotten the hack to be with the dropouts on the sidecar that match the rear dropouts on the bike and the sizing is 2009 and everything. Our ultimate goal is to spark the resurgence, and hopefully other people will pick up and help.
Truly Odd: Take it from OG…
Greyboy: Take it out of obscurity.